September 14, 2018

(Broadcast on Facebook Live)

Dr. Sheers shared information on topics related to the West Springfield ES Vision & Mission:

• Caring Culture
  • Positivity Project – highlighting 24 character strengths
    • teachers will focus on a different strength each week during morning meeting and throughout the day
    • blends well with Responsive Classroom Approach
    • students learn to focus on their strengths and be accepting of other people
• Creative and Critical Thinking
  • Going to have another STEAM night on March 29^th
  • Shared highlights of projects students are working on in the STEAM Lab
    • Grades 4 – 6 visit STEAM Lab for an hour every week during every other quarter to allow more time for them to work on projects
    • Grades K-3 visit STEAM lab every week each during all four quarters
• Community
  • Buddy Classes –
    • grade levels are paired together to do buddy reading
    • goal is to develop a sense of community within the school
  • Going to streamline communications and send weekly Keep In Touch messages
    • will be including Did You Know section to highlight school activities
    • will feature info about the Specialists (Music, Art, PE, etc.)
• Achievement
  • Celebrated growth in SOL scores – discussed cohort growth with pass rates each year
  • Attributed pass rate increases to targeted interventions and providing opportunities for students to engage in problem solving activities
  • SPED closed the gap in student pass rates by 40%

Other topics of Discussion:

• Kindergarten Classes
  • Dr. Sheers has been advocating for an additional teacher since July and our numbers are such that HR has not approved an additional teacher.
  • As of this date, WSES is will not receive an additional teacher due to the current number of kindergarten students.
  • Dr. Atwater is aware of the concerns and has been advocating as well.
  • Parents concerns:
    • Teachers being able to meet student needs with such a large number of students - Kindergarten teachers are highly skilled and are doing a great job of supporting all student needs
    • What can be done about the actual size of the classroom where students receive instruction (dimensions) – Kindergarten classrooms are designed to accommodate needs associated with Kindergarten students (bathroom located in room; additional storage space for kindergarten materials)
• Tenmarks – questions about paying for this resource. The teachers and students have found a lot of value in TenMarks math for upper grade students. Similar to scholastic in the lower grades, this year, parents are paying for their child’s subscription.
• Back to School Night Feedback
  • Some Teachers seemed to rush through presentations -  didn’t have time to answer parent questions
    • Suggestion – could there be a general session to present info that pertains to all classes so teachers can focus on grade level/classroom specific topics
  • Was difficult to navigate the Specialist part of BTSN – some groups had signage and others didn’t. 
    • Suggestion - provide signage to help parents understand where Specialists are located in the cafeteria
• Cafeteria Update - Going to remove old wallpaper and replace with student decorated tiles
  • PTA provided some funding to support the tiling project
  • Parent volunteers will help with wallpaper removal
• Recess – Clarified students’ access to different areas during recess
  • Each grade level will have access to playground during one of the two recess times

Future coffees will be rotated throughout the school year morning and evenings. We will continue to Facebook live!